SAS Programming II: Advanced DATA Step Programming

SAS Programming II: Advanced DATA Step Programming

A common perplexity facing beginning SAS programmers is that the SAS data set that they create is not what they intended to create; i.e. there are more or less observations than intended or the value of the newly-created variable was not retained correctly. These types of mistakes are most commonly committed because programming novices learn SAS language syntax without understanding the fundamental SAS programming concepts.

This course provides a comprehensive overview of how the SAS DATA step processes during the compilation and execution phases. Course topics include understanding how the program data vector (PDV) works, BY-group processing, writing loops in the DATA step, and array processing. Many programming work-related examples will be demonstrated and students will also have opportunities to practice solving real-life problems via exercises and assignments.

Arthur Li holds an M.S. in Biostatistics from the University of Southern California. Currently, he is a biostatistician at the City of Hope National Medical Center. Li developed and taught an introductory SAS course at USC for the past six years, and teaches a clinical biostatistics sourse at UC San Diego Extension. In addition to teaching and working on cancer-related research, Li wrote a book titled “Handbook of SAS® DATA Step Programming” which was released in April 2013.

There are no sections of this course currently scheduled. Please contact the Science & Technology department at 858-534-3229 or unex-sciencetech@ucsd.edu for information about when this course will be offered again.